September 21, 2017

HYDERABAD: The long-drawn tender process followed by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) for relaying dug-up roads should either be done away with completely or streamlined to put the city's road infrastructure back on track, feel traffic cops.

Pointing out that currently it takes at least six months to complete just the tender process for restoration of dug up roads, which the city just cannot afford, traffic cops said there are several instances of road stretches being dug up repeatedly and not being re-surfaced, leaving behind un-motorable roads as the civic body's tender process takes its own sweet time.

As per the current system, when an agency seeks permission from GHMC for road digging, cost of required restoration work has to be submitted by the agency to the civic body before taking up the work. However, the tender process for restoring roads starts only after digging is completed.

"While it not possible to refuse permission for any development work, in most cases the contractor just dumps mud or loose gravel on the stretches. It is the gap between the completion of work and the actual filling of the road that results in traffic woes. We have suggested that the procedural fulfilling of tender be done away with and the road be filled immediately after the work is done," said AV Ranganath, deputy commissioner of police, traffic (Hyderabad II).

"The Maharani Jhansi Road from Putlibowli Chowrasta to Afzalganj has been in a poor condition for the past two ye ars. Only surgical repair work by pouring bitumen is done after the frequent digging work," complained resident Balasubramanyam Perugu.

Chandramohan Singh, a resident of Marredpally , said, "The road from Reliance Fresh super market to the check post in West Marredpally was repaired about six months back but is back to its potholed self. Even the road near Lions Hospital, which was dug up for laying drainage pipes, has not been restored."

While GHMC authorities admitted the tender process takes at least two months, they said that in the case of Malkajgiri the delays stretched to nearly a year because the payment was completed only recently by Water Board, which has taken up pipeline laying work. "Once the work is completed, estimates are drawn up and sent for sanction. Then a tender is called for and a contractor is decided. The process requires at least two months.While dealing with other departments we can't press for payment beforehand," said M Shanker, deputy chief engineer, maintenance, GHMC.

September 6, 2017

The Free State Department of Police, Roads, and Transport says there are a number of roads in the province that still need to be fixed.

MEC Sam Mashinini today said that these roads, including the one between Odendaalsrus and Wesselsbron, are not covered in the current financial year and needs attention. He added that since the end of July the department has finalised tenders for successful contractors for a number of road projects in the province. The handover site meetings for, among others, the Kroonstad-Steynsrus, Vredefort-Hoopstad, Vredefort-Viljoenskroon and Bothaville-Viljoenskroon roads commenced yesterday. He says the department needs to maintain these roads once it is completed.

“One of the problems that I am currently giving attention to, is how best do we make sure that the roads in the province are maintained over the long term. I have deliberately asked the different stakeholders to say how, once the road between Bothaville and Viljoenskroon is completed, we can maintain it. That road is economically viable in terms of the farms there. That road is mostly used and that’s why we are targeting it,” says Mashinini.

He adds that the department’s objective is to build capacity by investing in human resources through skills development. He says the department wants to create a sustainable economic climate in the province and to deliver public infrastructure by using labour intensive technology.

He says from 2008 until last year they have had an intake of 173 contractors of which 83 graduated. In total 78 is still active and engaged in projects in the province.

July 11, 2017

ONLY 10 percent of the surfaced (tarred) national road network is in good condition, with 30 percent in poor condition while 57 percent is in fair condition, a senior Government official has said.

About 3 percent of the road network has been unclassified, 1 percent of gravel and earth roads were certified to be in good condition, 22 percent was in fair condition, 72 percent was said to be in poor condition while five percent was unclassified at this stage.

In response to this situation, Government has initiated a number of road rehabilitation projects, including building new ones. Some of the road rehabilitation projects initiated through the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development include. . .

Tenders will be awarded on a Build Operate Transfer (BOT) basis for the Beitbridge-Bulawayo-Victoria Falls, Harare-Nyamapanda and Rutenga-Boli-Sango roads before the end of this year.

Currently, feasibility studies and detailed engineering designs are underway for the Beitbridge-Bulawayo road and should be completed by August this year, after which tenders will be floated.

Transport and Infrastructure Development Minister Dr Jorum Gumbo said Government had made significant investment into the road network and more funds would be channelled towards infrastructure. The minister said about $300 million had so far been channelled into infrastructure development, including road rehabilitation.

"Some $13,28 million was spent on rehabilitation and maintenance of road infrastructure in 2015 and $11,44 million in 2016. At the same time, rehabilitation of the Plumtree-Mutare road was done from 2012 to 2016 at a cost of $206 million," said Dr Gumbo.

"In the aviation sector, the major investment has been upgrading of Victoria Falls Airport in the last three years to December 2016, at a cost of about $150 million. There was also some money spent on rehabilitation of the runway at Harare International Airport," he said.

All the road works were funded by the Zimbabwe National Road Authority and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development.

"There has been no private financing of transport infrastructure development since the New Limpopo Bridge in 1994 and Beitbridge-Bulawayo Railway (BBR) in 1998.

"The Plumtree-Mutare project was financed through a loan obtained by ZINARA from DBSA (of South Africa). Victoria Falls Airport was financed by a loan to Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe from China," said Dr Gumbo.

Minister Gumbo said the National Railways of Zimbabwe also carried out some rehabilitation work on the national railway network.

The condition of the country's road network had deteriorated since the last condition survey in 2010. At that time, 20 percent of the national road network was assessed to be in good condition, 30 percent in fair condition and 50 percent in poor condition. Ongoing road projects include the dualisation of Beitbridge-Harare-Chirundu highway, including the Harare Ring Road.

"The construction team has started arriving from China, and construction is expected to start in September this year," he said.

"We are also going to construct Phase 2 of the Harare International Airport Road. The late commencement has been due to delays in carrying out the required feasibility study. Again this will be done and project implementation will commence before the end of the year." the Minister added.

More funds, especially foreign direct investment, could have been channelled towards road projects, among other infrastructure development projects, but lack of appropriate and adequate legislation governing Public Private Partnerships was a hindrance.

"However, we now have the Joint Venture Act, and we trust that from now on we will be able to attract significant levels of FDI in transport infrastructure development," the Minister added.Source - Bulawayo

June 29, 2017

A long-awaited £165m roads project for Belfast is now facing a legal challenge, it has emerged.

Around eight years after it was first announced, cash was finally earmarked for the York Street Interchange development as part of the DUP's £1bn deal with the Tories.

But now, a legal challenge, which has been confirmed by the Department for Infrastructure, over the awarding of the main construction contract, could delay the scheme further.

DUP Tory deal new £1bn allocation breakdown - where will the money go in Northern Ireland?

The Department has said that “the tender process to appoint a contractor to bring the scheme to a construction ready stage has now been completed... however, tender award cannot occur at present due to a legal challenge. The legal process is ongoing.”

The interchange is intended to solve the Belfast's increasing traffic problems.

It aimed to transform traffic flow where the Westlink, M2 and M3 converge.

The bulk of the cash needed to build it, around 40%, was originally due to come from the EU.

The upgrade of the York Street Interchange aims to tackle the traffic gridlock which occurs daily.

As Northern Ireland's busiest junction, it carries 100,000 vehicles daily, mostly commuters to and from Belfast from around Co Antrim.

It was revealed this week that part of a £1bn fiscal package for Northern Ireland as part of the DUP deal with the Conservatives, will include £400m for infrastructure. And as part of that, money will be freed up for the York Street Interchange.

At the end of last year, former Infrastructure Minister Chris Hazzard accepted a recommendation from a public inquiry that the York Street Interchange scheme should progress in principle but reiterated warnings that Brexit had placed a question mark over funding.

Speaking about the project, Wesley Johnston, an expert on Northern Ireland's roads, has said that commuters can still expect delays at the York Street interchange even after work has been completed.

Bitumen gain certain unique properties that are inbuilt in it during its manufacture. The bitumen as a raw material in flexible road construction and bitumen as a mix (composing other materials i.e. aggregates/ pozzolans) serves certain advantages, that prompt to use bitumen widely in road construction.

Bitumen is a by-product of crude oil distillation process. Crude oil itself is a composition of hydrocarbons. The primary products that are available are the petrol, diesel, high octane fuels and gasoline.

When these fuels are refined from the crude oil, the bitumen is left behind. Further treatment of by-product, to make it free from impurities give pure bitumen.

As the primary product demand is of utmost importance to the society, the bitumen as a by product has survival for long. This by product is utilized as a new construction material, without going for any other new resource.

The physical and the chemical properties of Bitumen are found to be a function of load level, temperature and the duration of loading. It is a thermoplastic and viscoelastic material.

These dependencies make us to truly access the traffic on the road so that a bitumen mix properties can be varied based on the stress levels calculated. This versatility of bitumen results in a large variety of bitumen mix, based on the road application.

It is highly appreciable about the fact that bitumen has a favorable melting point, that helps in both surface dressing and wearing resistance with ease.

The melting point of the bitumen should not be too high, that it can be melted easily during laying the pavement. At the same time, bitumen has a melting point, which would not let the already casted road pave to melt and deform under high temperatures.

In areas of high temperatures, along with this quality of bitumen, the aggregate composition helps to cover up the effect of large temperature.

As the melting point of bitumen is favorable, it can be melted back to its original state. This is called as asphalt recycling process.

The torn-up asphalt pieces are taken up to the recycling plant, instead of sending them to landfills. This recycled mix can be reused. If necessary, the old bitumen is mixed with new bitumen and new aggregates to make the mix live again.

The traditional bitumen is black in color. This is because the dense organic material within bitumen is black in color. Now, when certain pigments are added to bitumen, the color of our choice can be obtained. These are colored bitumen.

It is costly than the normal colored bitumen. The disadvantage of colored bitumen is that it requires more chemical additives and materials.

The figure below shows a typical cross section of flexible pavement, that was developed in the USA. The structural bitumen layer composes of:

Bituminous surface or wearing course

Bituminous binder course

Bituminous base course

The primary purpose of these bitumen mixes is structural strength provision. This involves even load dispersion throughout the layers of the pavement. The loads involved are dynamic or static loads, which is transferred to the base subgrade through the aggregate course.

A granular base with a bituminous surface course is only provided for roads of low traffic. It is just sufficient and economical.

The rebounding effect of bitumen upper layers helps in having resistance against high dynamic effect due to the heavy traffic. Rebounding property is reflected by the stiffness and the flexibility characteristics of the bitumen top layers. When looking from bottom to top, the flexibility characteristics should increase.

Studies have shown that the above mentioned characteristics of aggregates are attained using densely graded bitumen mixes. This mix should make use of nominal maximum size aggregate (NMAS), that must decrease from the base course- binder course – surface course.

The nominal maximum size aggregate (NMAS) = One sieve larger than first sieve-to retain more than 10% of combined aggregate.

There is a higher amount of bitumen content in the wearing course, that make the layer more flexible. This would help in increasing the durability.

Surface Drainage of Bituminous Pavements

Subsurface drainage can be facilitated using granular sub base in the construction of flexible pavement. Permeable asphalt treated base (PATB) can be used to provided positive surface drainage in major highways. This would behave as a separate course for facilitating subsurface drainage.

Surface Friction of Bituminous Roads

It is essential for the pavement layer to provide enough skid resistance and friction, during vehicle passage, especially in wet condition. This would ensure the safety of the passengers. The macro and the micro surface texture of the asphalt mix contributes towards the surface friction.

The mix gradation i.e. open graded or dense graded will contribute to macro surface texture. The open graded mix have higher macro surface than dense graded. The water is squeezed out from the bottom of vehicle tire when the high macro surface texture is implemented.

The micro surface texture is contributed by the aggregate surface, that is exposed when the above bitumen layer is torn.

1. A smooth Ride Surface

It does not make use of any joints; Hence provide a smooth surface to ride. It also gives less sound emission when compared with concrete pavements. The wear and tear are less in the bituminous pavement, thus maintaining the smoothness.

2. Gradual Failure

The deformation and the failure in the bituminous pavement is a gradual process. The concrete pavement shows brittle failures.

3. Quick Repair

They have an option to be repaired to be quick. They don’t consume time in reverting the path for traffic; as they set fast.

4. Staged Construction

This helps in carrying out staged construction in a situation when problems of fund constraint or traffic estimation problems are faced.

5. Life Cost is Less

The initial cost and overall maintenance cost of bituminous pavement are less compared to concrete pavement.

6. Temperature Resistant

They act resistant against high temperature from melting and are not affected by de-icing materials.

October 10, 2016

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is preparing to start the process of monetizing toll-based operational road assets under the toll, operate and transfer (TOT) model, aimed to bring new investments to the highways sector.

“We have not as yet floated tenders to monetize road assets, but are preparing to do so. We expect to begin doing this in 2-3 months’ time under the TOT model,” NHAI chairman Raghav Chandra said in an email response to queries from Mint.

This will be India’s first exercise in auctioning NHAI’s operational projects after a cabinet clearance in August. The proceeds will fund new highway projects under various models.

NHAI is currently working on the guidelines for TOT, under which the investor will collect tolls and be responsible for operation and maintenance of the project. The TOT model will be essential to attract long-term foreign investment, financial investors and investment bankers told Mint.

NHAI can lease up to 75 national highway projects which are fetching tolls for at least two years to various entities on the TOT model. The overall annual toll collected from these projects is about Rs2,700 crore, against which NHAI can expect to raise Rs25,000-30,000 crore by granting 30-year concessions, said Ashish Agarwal, director (infrastructure) at investment bank Equirus Capital.

The TOT model is long overdue, said Gautam Bhandari, partner at I Squared Capital, a US-based investor in road projects. “We are hopeful that NHAI finally does launch its TOT programme so that it can serve as a model for other sectors as well. As a global investor, we believe that NHAI’s TOT model, if executed properly, could be a win-win for everyone. Proceeds from TOT auctions will free up valuable taxpayer capital that can then be recycled for much-needed new infrastructure projects,” he said.

I Squared is looking to invest as much as $1 billion in Indian infrastructure. It has invested more than Rs1,000 crore through its investment platform Cube Highways and Infrastructure Pte. Ltd in three road projects so far.

IDFC Alternatives, which has bought controlling stakes in operational road projects, is waiting to see the fine print. “The good part is that in the TOT model, there are far less variables and concerns to be addressed as compared to projects with embedded construction risks. The differences in the bids here would be more a function of how differently each investor views the traffic growth rates, maintenance costs, synergies with other projects in one’s portfolio, if any,” said Aditya Aggarwal, partner (infrastructure), IDFC Alternatives.

There is significant interest from international infrastructure funds in the Indian road sector, said Rahul Mody, managing director, Ambit Corporate Finance Pvt. Ltd. “The TOT model is an excellent idea. The model takes away two key risks in the road sector—delays or cost overruns and initial traffic discovery—as the assets that will be offered under this (model) will be operational with some tolling history; hence it should attract considerable interest from Indian companies as well as foreign investors,” Mody said.

“The model can be an avenue for NHAI to raise upfront capital to fund the EPC and HAM projects; opportunity to feed the increasing number of pension funds and infrastructure investors having access to low cost capital and further deepen the infrastructure market; and allowing players to choose better the nature of risk-reward play they want to play in the road sector,” Agarwal said.

September 29, 2016

The global bitumen market is forecast to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of four percent between 2015 to 2020, and the world’s largest energy traders such as the Vitol Group and the Trafigura Group Pte. are in a race to increase their market share.

Bitumen is a semi-solid form of petroleum, which is used to make asphalt for roads, waterproofing for roofs, insulation, and adhesives. It is either obtained by distillation of petroleum or is available naturally, such as in Canada’s oil sands.

Bitumen is used mainly in road manufacturing. A surge in road construction activity in Asia will propel growth for the product going forward. 75 percent of the global consumption of bitumen was used for road construction in 2014.

Waterproofing of roofing and building construction was the second major consumer of bitumen in 2014. Increased construction of homes to cater for the growing population is likely to add to the bitumen demand in the future.

Along with roofing, polymer modified bitumen (PMB), which is used as a chemical additive and adhesive, will witness rapid growth compared to other forms of bitumen.

Trucks, trains, and barges have been used traditionally to transport bitumen from refineries to local consumers; however, a drop in supply from the aging refineries in the U.S. and Europe has necessitated the use of oceangoing tankers, to supply the material from its source of production to the end consumer.

Vitol, the largest independent oil-trading house teamed up with U.S.-based Sargeant Marine Inc., which distributes asphalt to customers worldwide to form Valt, which operates the world’s largest dedicated asphalt fleet, handling parcel sizes from 20 metric tons up to 37,000 metric tons through its fleet of fourteen specialist vessels, according to its website.

“It used to be mostly a small distribution business,” Chris Bake, a senior executive at Rotterdam-based Vitol, said in an interview. “Now it is more of a whole arbitrage business requiring a global reach and shipping capacity,” reports Bloomberg.

Trafigura group is also not far behind. Its Singapore-based unit, Puma Energy has added four new bitumen vessels, taking the total number of vessels to 11, which cater to the Asian markets.

“We see a definite upward trend in the number of nautical miles for bitumen,” said Valt Chief Commercial Officer Nick Fay, who estimates an annual increase of about 7 percent. “All the new refineries that are getting built don’t make bitumen,” reports Bloomberg.

The Guvnor Group is planning to invest in the Perth Amboy asphalt refinery and storage facility in New Jersey, which has been shut since 2008, reports Bloomberg.

There is hardly any public information about the bitumen market, which makes it ideal for the large energy traders, who use their energy expertise and global connection to supply to far-off markets.

“There is a perception that the world is going to be more disconnected -- supply and demand-wise -- and we are there to help connect the dots,” Klintholm said.

Nonetheless, increased use of asphalt for roads and environmental concerns with bitumen manufacturing could pose a risk for the growth of the bitumen industry in the future.

August 29, 2016

Asphalt plant manufacturers agree that recycled asphalt is a valuable resource that is too good to waste - Mike Woof writes

Around the globe there is growing interest in the use of recycled asphalt pavement (RAP). The technology to utilise RAP in asphalt mixes has been available for some time, with a range of asphalt plant manufacturers in the US and Europe having developed a number of solutions. However, take-up of this technology has varied, with the US pushing ahead with the use of RAP while progress has been much slower in Europe. But many European countries are now becoming more aware of the need to lower the reliance on new aggregates through the use of RAP. And other markets, too, are seeing greater interest in the use of RAP, with the Chinese authorities, for example, having set requirements for this material to be used in road building.

Using RAP can lead to substantial savings in both production costs and indirect CO2 emissions. A paper by Ammann’s commercial manager, Peter Maurer, highlights the fact that RAP is not a waste material but one that can be re-used efficiently. This is a key issue that all the specialists building equipment for the asphalt sector, such as Astec, Benninghoven, Günter Papenburg, Intrame, Lintec and Marini, will agree with Ammann upon.

Both the aggregates and bitumen contained in RAP can meet the standards allowing re-use. Adding some quantities of new aggregates and bitumen can ensure that quality is maintained.

Clearly, the use of recycled asphalt pavemen (RAP) will only increase across the globe, with asphalt plant manufacturers having already developed ingenious solutions to make best use of this material.

Maurer’s paper details a number of fundamental points for the use of large quantities of RAP in an asphalt plant, which all of the key suppliers in the market segment would agree with. First, legislation must allow the use of RAP in asphalt mixes. Second, there must be a sufficient supply of the material available to a user to make the investment in the extra equipment needed worthwhile. Assuming that the material can be used and is available, the asphalt plant owner then has to provide separate storage facilities for different grades of RAP being received. Careful monitoring of the RAP supply has to be carried out, with laboratory-based testing to assess the quality. And the higher the percentage of RAP being used in the mix, the greater the importance of assuring the quality of the RAP feed.

Marzio Ferrini, head of product marketing at Marini, emphasised that determining the quality of the RAP is essential. He said that quality testing of road materials being milled off should be carried out so that the contractor knows exactly what grade is being recovered. He said, “You need to know the source of the RAP.”

Ferrini added that weather protection is also important for the RAP storage area, as this helps to reduce the moisture levels in the material, lowering the quantities of fuel used for heating the plant. This is a technical point on which Marini’s rivals are in broad agreement.

Batching-type plants are favoured by users in many markets, because of their versatility and adaptability. Modern batching plants are now often constructed in modular form with prewired components, allowing faster commissioning onsite while they can also be set up to handle a wide range of mix specifications. This versatility in construction also helps these plants to use RAP in the mix (although it is worth noting that continuous-type plants can also be configured to handle RAP).

Accurate weighing of the RAP entering the mixer is necessary to ensure that the correct quantities of materials are used, a point on which Benninghoven’s sales manager Rainer Böllinger, as well as Ferrini and Maurer all agree. The feed conveyor systems can be equipped with load scales on the belt so that the quantities can be monitored continuously.

With regard to the use of cold RAP in the mix, there is considerable discussion too as to how much can be used efficiently, however.

Böllinger said that Benninghoven’s latest granulators play a key role in the production process by breaking up the RAP prior to being used in the feed. Böllinger said, “The granulator is a key factor for high-quality recycling management. You need soft crushing to protect the stone and you remove the fines in the end products. You can increase the percentage of recycled feed in the plant by 5-10%; because you remove the fines efficiently, you don’t destroy the stone and you retain the bitumen.”

The source of the RAP has to be identified and lab testing is crucial to determine the material quality.

According to Böllinger, using the granulator helps recoat the bitumen around the stone and avoids the need for long mixing cycles in the mixer, with a boost to productivity. He said that the material being delivered to the mixer is more homogenous, allowing a conventional mixing cycle of 45 seconds.

Another important feature is the slow feed rate for the RAP into the mixer box, which reduces the quantity of steam being released. Ammann’s and Benninghoven’s burners are controlled by an inverter system, which it claims also helps to boost overall plant efficiency. When the plant has a low level of throughput into the drier drum, the burner reduces the fuel consumption.

Ferrini pointed out that the mix design must be modified to incorporate RAP, while the plant has to have the necessary features to accommodate this. The recipe has to be checked using software, with continual monitoring of all the feed components.

The introduction of the RAP in the feed can generate large quantities of steam from the mixer, so the Marini plants have a special tube that operates under negative pressure as an extractor.

Marini’s approach to allowing a high percentage of RAP into the mix, however, is to use a larger mixer. Because of the heat-exchange process to the cold RAP, the mixing time is typically increased to 50 seconds, compared with the 45 seconds for a conventional mix using virgin materials. Ferrini said, “If you want good quality, you need more time to heat the material and allow the bitumen to cover the stone.”

He said that a batching plant using fresh aggregates and with an output of 240tonnes/hour will typically have a 5tonne mixer and a mixing time of 45 seconds for each batch. But when cold RAP is used in the mix, extra time is required for the heat-transfer process so that the mixing time will be increased to 50 seconds, so to ensure the output remains the same at 240tonnes/hour, the mixer capacity has to be increased to 6tonnes. “The bigger batch compensates for the longer time,” he said. “The more cold RAP you use, the longer the time you need.”

Ferrini said that while higher percentages of cold RAP can be used in theory, this requires a greater energy transfer, and to prevent overheating of the material, even longer times are needed and this will increase fuel consumption significantly. “We can do this but the machine must be specifically designed for it with a big mixer and a big burner and use a very good quality RAP and with a low moisture content.”

Ferrini added that in addition to the technology used for the introduction of cold RAP directly into the mixer, the firm can help increase the percentage of RAP used. This is achieved by adding RAP into the recycling ring on the dryer drum and by combining both technologies, Ferrini said that the Marini plants can reach a recycling rate of up to 60%.

The view from Ammann is broadly in agreement with Marini. And Maurer’s paper on the use of recycled asphalt details how a feed of up to 30% of cold RAP can be fed directly into the mixer. Keeping the moisture of the RAP lower than 2% allows the percentage to go up to 35% or 40%, supported by an intelligent feed of the RAP into the mixer. The paper also highlights how, by using a parallel dryer in parallel flow technology, a feed of up to 60% of hot recycled material can be used in the mix.

However, Maurer points out that Ammann is working on technology to boost the quantity of recycled materials from the current maximum of 60% when using a dried feed, having set a target of 100%. This technology, based on the counter flow drying principle in combination with a hot gas generator, and equipped with some high sophisticated air ducting details, was introduced in 2007 in a wide range of installations. It ensures gentle drying and heating of the RAP, and in some road-construction projects it was possible to use up to 98% of RAP with this technology.

Nowadays, all of the leading manufacturers in the asphalt plant field will be working in this same direction to optimise the use of RAP, although the solutions they eventually deliver may vary significantly.

July 20, 2016

The South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) his issued tenders to six pre-qualified bidders for each of the mega-bridges, over the Mtentu and Msikaba River gorges, that are to be part of the greenfield section of the N2 Wild Coast Road project.

This is in spite of the fact that the project, which has been dogged by controversy since its inception 15 years ago, still faces some unresolved legal issues. There was huge opposition from KwaZulu-Natal road users who expected to fund the project through increased tolling in their province. However, this opposition has fallen away as the KwaZulu-Natal section has been excluded from the project. The revised N2 Wild Coast Road Project runs from East London to the Mtamvuna River Bridge, a distance of approximately 410km.

Bizana residents fear being displaced and the Amadiba Crisis Committee has objected to the project, claiming it is linked to the Xolobeni dune mining proposal, against which they are fighting. Conservation organisations are bitterly opposed to the fact that the greenfields section of the proposed route will pass through the environmentally sensitive Pondoland Centre of Endemism, part of a global floral hot spot.

Sanral spokesman Mbulelo Peterson said that an open pre-qualification process had been followed before the issuing of the tenders. He said that, due to the size and complexity of the two bridges, which are expected to cost around R3,5-billion to construct, the tender periods were 18 weeks and 20 weeks respectively for the Mtentu and Msikaba Bridges. Tenders would close at the end of October for the Mtentu Bridge and early in November for the Msikaba Bridge. Construction of the bridges was likely to start early next year.

THE N2 Wild Coast road project was already well under way as Sanral had started working on it as soon as it had received the go-ahead from the Minister of Environmental Affairs in 2010. Mr Peterson said that, to date, Sanral had done extensive work on upgrading existing roads on the N2 between East London and Mthatha and on the future new N2 alignment along the current R61 route between Mthatha and Port St Johns.

All work already done on the N2 Wild Coast Road had been funded from non-toll funding and only the greenfields section of the route would be funded through a mix of government grant and tollings.

“Sanral, the Department of Transport and National Treasury are in discussion to finalise the funding model for the greenfields section. By law only roads funded through toll funding can be tolled and no cross-subsidisation of tolling is allowed,” he said.

This meant Sanral could not erect new toll booths or adjust tariffs at existing toll plazas within KwaZulu-Natal to fund roads in the Eastern Cape.

“New toll roads must be gazetted and go through an extensive public participation process after gazetting.”

In January this year, government gave the green light for the construction of the greenfields section of the project, between Ndwalane outside Port St Johns and the Mtamvuna River.

Mr Peterson said this part of the project would start with the construction of the massive bridges over the Mtentu and Msikaba Rivers, which border the Mkambati Nature Reserve. Once these were under way, construction of the remaining approximately 110km of road, the seven additional river bridges and four interchanges would start.

July 4, 2016

Tasked to improve road connectivity in remote parts of India's Northeast, the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) is now venturing into Nepal where it has been assigned to guide the construction of over 600 km of postal roads in the Terai region bordering India.

A postal road is a road designated for the transportation of postal mail.

According to an MoU inked between India and Nepal, the decision was taken after a similar attempt by the Nepal Government failed to make progress due to negligence of the contractors in 2010.

"The Postal Road in the Terai region of Nepal will boost the country's much awaited road network. Under this current project the NHIDCL will be tasked to guide the construction of 19 postal roads of an outlay of 600 km," one of the top officials at NHIDCL told IANS declining to be identified.

He said the construction of 19 postal roads are under six packages for different parts of the Terai region.

"Basically we will be playing the role of consultants in the entire project. The biddings and all the tendering work of the road construction will be done by Nepal. Our work will basically be to see that the work does not witness failure like earlier," the official said.

According to the official, the decision for handing over the guidance work was decided during the recent visit of Nepal's Prime Minister K.P. Oli to India.

Abhay Thakur, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), told IANS: "Yes, It has been proposed to the Nepal Government for appointing NHIDCL as the consultant for the postal road projects. Though the precise MoU between the NHIDCL and Nepal Government is likely to be inked next week... all things are decided."

He said contractors from both Nepal and India can do the bidding for the postal roads projects.

The NHIDCL authority, who did not wished to be named, said the postal road has been prioritised for the development of Terai/Madhes region by expanding the road network. The 600 km work is only for the first phase. Both the countries will decide the agenda for the remaining works also."

Stating that the project was being financed by India, he said that the money will be given to Nepal for the execution of different stages of work, which will be over looked by the NHIDCL.

According to sources, the cost of the first phase of road construction in the Terai is estimated to increase to Rs 9 billion from the earlier Rs 7 billion. The total project cost will also rise from the previous estimate of Rs 29 billion. Around 130 bridges have to built along the 600 km highway.

Asked if NHIDCL has been given any other foreign projects, the authority said: "The creation of NHIDCL was for creation of difficult roads. The Government has full confidence on us and we are ready to undertake any project in any part of the world under any circumstance. However, there are no immediate foreign projects as of now."

NHIDCL, created in 2014, has recently been given the task of constructing over 4,000 km of roads in the Northeast and Jammu and Kashmir. The organisation was established after Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and Public Works Department of the states failed to carry out road construction in many remote parts in hilly terrain.Source - Indian Express

June 22, 2016

Chile is pushing ahead with infrastructure development. The Ministry of Public Works intends to award five to seven projects during 2016.

The Ministry of Public Works has also set a target of having 12-13 major infrastructure projects being awarded and worth a total of US$6 billion by the time the current administration comes to the end of its term.

One road project due to be awarded shortly is for the phase two of the Vespucio Oriente link. The tender is expected to open in July 2016.

The projects for the Ruta de la Fruta, El Loa link and the road from Los Vilos to La Serena will also be put to tender in 2016. Meanwhile the tender process for the $1 billion Costanera Central project will be put out to tender in 2017.

June 16, 2016

The prime Minister, other ministers and influential leaders of the opposition parties have managed to get huge funds allocated to their respective constituencies for the development of minor local roads in order to woo local voters.

As many as 98 minor and local roads that were allocated only Rs 1 million or little more in the budget have now been upgraded into multi-year projects, analysis of information provided to Republica by the National Planning Commission (NPC) shows.

The Ministry of Finance has decided to allocate Rs 40 billion for initiating multi-year tender processes for these projects. However, the roads in question have not been listed as strategic roads, nor has the economic returns been weighed. Line agencies of the Department of Roads have already started the tender process for several of the projects.

These huge amounts are on top of the budget allocation of Rs 42.02 billion in the current fiscal year. Minor projects that had been allocated between Rs 1 million to Rs 5 million are now receiving Rs 10 million and above. A few of them are receiving over a billion.

Four minor road projects in Jhapa, the home district of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, have now been converted into multi-year projects and guaranteed funding of about Rs 1 billion. The projects are Lakhanpur-Mangalbare-Mujarphutta-Jyotinagar road, Satamari-Bhalubari road, Charali Kechana ring road and Damak ring road.

Likewise, Biratnagar-Debanganj road in the constituency of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport (MoPIT) Bijaya Gachchhadar has been upgraded into a multi-year project.

Likewise, Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel has allocated about Rs 3 billion for similar projects in his constituency. Belbas-Nuwakot-Dobhan road and Belbash-Bethari road have been turned into multi-year projects. The fiscal year budget had allocated Rs 5 million for the Belbash Bethari road and this sum has now been increased to Rs 1.94 billion.Swarnim Wagle, senior economist and former member of the NPC, said bringing a road to every voter is not the solution to the lack of efficient road infrastructure in the country. He suggested focusing on good roads over the shortest distances and efficient transportation.

Priority projects in top leaders' constituencies

Three influential leaders from Pyuthan district have used their sway to get minor projects prioritized. Govind Raj Pokharel, former NPC vice chairman, has converted at least two projects into multiyear ones. He was also involved in project selections for the current fiscal year. Track opening and upgrading of Jhimruk ring road and the Hatiyagaun Jabune-Airabati road in Pyuthan have now been prioritized. Likewise, Bamdev Gautam, former home minister and senior leader of the CPN UML, has secured funds for the black-topping of Bhigri-Swargadwari road and the construction of a ring road in Madi Model Municipality.

Rekha Sharma, lawmaker of the CPN (Maoist Center) and minister for general administration, has gotten four roads, also in Pyuthan, converted into multi-year contracts. Cherneta-Salghari-Sari-Dandagau road, Badadanda-Kaskot-Hansapur-Airawati road, and Okharkot-Machchhi-Tanda Pokhari road are among the four.Balkrishna Khand, influential leader of the Nepali Congress from Rupandehi district, has secured a few multi-year road projects also. Bauddha Paripath-Ramgram-Panditpur-Jyamire road, Harkatawa road and Murgiya- Suryapura-Lumbini road in Rupandehi, and two other minor roads in the Lumbini area were recommended by Khand for such conversion. Similarly, senior UML leaders Janardan Dhakal, Surendra Pandey, Parbat Gurung, Rajendra Pandey, Lal Bahadur Rawal, Yagyaraj Sunuwar, Deepak Karki, and Janardan Sharma of CPN (Maoist Center) have also secured projects in their home districts.

Sumitra Amatya, a member of the NPC, told Republica that "projects are being converted as a new experiment for completing projects listed in the budget within three years and averting the continuous financial burden of such small projects over as much as a decade." She further said that conversion into multiyear does not mean the resources are allocated right away as the funds will only be disbursed after the detailed project report (DPR) and environment impact assessment (EIA) are completed.

- See more at: http://www.myrepublica.com/feature-article/story/44377/billions-for-local-roads-in-home-districts-of-bigwigs.html#sthash.Bc81YyAD.dpuf

June 7, 2016

The president of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote yesterday said using concrete in road construction is 20 percent less costly than using other materials.

The business man disclosed this at Itori, Ewekoro local government area of Ogun State during the inauguration of a 26 km concrete road constructed by his company as part of its corporate social responsibility, CSR, to the people of the area.

According to Dangote, apart from saving cost, roads constructed with concrete last longer than bitumen roads and do not require much maintenance.

“Our decision to introduce cement concrete roads in Nigeria, is in line with what obtains in other parts of the world. For instance, the famous Autobahn in Germany, was constructed with concrete. The equally popular Marine Drive in Mumbai, India, which was built in 1939, is another example of a concrete road.”

The business mogul further stated that players in the cement industry in Nigeria have been clamouring for a rethink on how roads are constructed in the country saying to save billions that go into maintaining bitumen roads, concrete roads are the answers.

“The Nigerian cement industry as our contribution to finding a cost-effective and lasting solution to this problem, has been advocating the construction of concrete roads as a more viable alternative to asphalt roads. That is why we at DIL, are venturing into the construction of concrete roads. Today’s ceremony is just the beginning for us, as we will soon embark on the building of more concrete roads in other States of the Federation, including Lagos, Bauchi, Kogi and Kaduna.

Dangote explained that his company embarked on construction of Itori -Ibese road to contribute their quota to easing suffering of the people of the area occasioned by poor state of the road also help their business.

“This project was conceived in 2014, as part of our efforts to ease movement of our heavy duty trucks from our Ibese Cement Plant to other parts of the country. We realised that the existing narrow road built in the ’70s, had virtually collapsed and needed to be reconstructed to accommodate our trucks and other road users.

“First, concrete roads are not only about 20 percent cheaper than the conventional asphalt roads, but they also last longer and do not have potholes. Also, concrete roads do not require frequent maintenance and they save fuel for motorists and protect tyres from wear and tear.

He noted that apart from being cost effective and durable, materials for making concrete roads are locally sourced.

“Another advantage of concrete roads is that cement, the basic raw material is for construction, is available locally, and is cheaper to use in the long run than bitumen, a petroleum-based product that is presently imported. As a matter of fact, in Nigeria, economic losses due to poor condition of our roads is estimated at about $1billion annually. I believe that the introduction of concrete roads will enable the government to find lasting solution to the poor road network in the country, and also reduce the burden of constantly sourcing for funds to repair roads.